At least 15 oil-producing nations, representing about 73 per cent of world output, were expected at the Doha meeting, though Iran and the US are not among them.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said his country would not freeze production, despite its ally Venezuela’s contention that the slump had been engineered by the US to wage an economic war on Washington’s enemies.

The gathering followed a meeting there in February between Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, where they pledged to cap output at January levels if other producers followed suit.

The aim is to reverse the slump in oil prices from over $100 (£70) per barrel in summer 2014, but there has been little talk of cutting output.

Prices dropped to a 12-year low of under $30 (£21) in January, but climbed to the mid-$40s last week on speculation about the Qatar meeting.